Week Two Instructors

Mark Cosgrove continues to be a busy performer, teacher, and session player. The past year has brought solo appearances as well as dates as a regular member of The David Bromberg Quartet and Big Band, his own band Good Medicine, performances with the DePue Bros Band, Roberto Dalla Vecchia, and fiddle and dance team John Kirk and Trish Miller. His recent recordings include a CD with three time national guitar champion Steve Kaufman and his fourth solo CD entitled "Unencumbered" which features some of acoustic music's most notable players as well as some rising young stars. Mark is known for his hard-driving and versatile guitar styles, showing equal abilities in bluegrass, jazz, rock, and as a tasteful sideman. He continues to teach and perform at guitar camps and workshops around the country.

Rich DelGrosso’s performances at clubs and festivals, and the airplay of his recordings, have garnered him seven Blues Music Award nominations. This writer/teacher/performer is widely regarded as the leading exponent of mandolin blues. For over thirty years DelGrosso has written articles for Blues Revue, Living Blues, Mandolin Magazine, Frets, Sing Out! and Il Blues and he has published mandolin and guitar instruction books for Hal Leonard Pub. with worldwide distribution. He has presented countless workshops across the Americas and Europe, earning him a Keeping the Blues Alive Award from the Blues Foundation in Memphis.

“...he lets his fingers do the talking, and his beautiful, clear tone and fluid technique are a delight...” Living Blues

Look for a new release this summer that will bring DelGrosso together with Mary Flower and Martin Grosswendt!

John Doerschuk has been in the sound business for over 25 years. He was attracted to waves and electrons while playing in bands in the seventies, and somehow continues to make a living as an "audio guy." He lives with his artist wife Bessie and daughter Sophie in Cambridge, Massachusetts. John plays piano and guitar and is trying to tame a Dobro.

Flower’s immense fingerpicking guitar and lap-slide prowess is soulful and meter-perfect, a deft blend of the inventive, the dexterous and the mesmerizing. Her supple honey-and-whiskey voice provides the perfect melodic accompaniment to each song’s story.
An internationally known and award-winning picker, singer/songwriter and teacher, the Midwest native relocated from Denver to the vibrant Portland, Oregon, music scene in in 2004. She continues to please crowds and critics at folk festivals and concert stages domestically and abroad, ones that include Merlefest, Kerrville, King Biscuit, Prairie Home Companion and the Calgary Folk Festival, among many.

Flower’s 10 recordings, including her last four for Memphis’ famed Yellow Dog Records — Bywater Dance, Instrumental Breakdown, Bridges and Misery Loves Company — show a deep command of and love for folk and blues string music. For Flower, it’s never about re-creation. Her dedication to the art form is a vital contribution to America’s music.

Martin Grosswendt has been exploring the roots and branches of American acoustic music for more than 40 years. A master of pre-war blues and other Southern traditional music, his fingerpicking, bottleneck playing and singing amaze and move audiences, critics and other musicians alike. He's known at festivals, concerts and music camps across the U.S., and his musical prowess is matched by his knowledge of the music's sources and creators, whose stories he weaves into every performance.
In recent years Martin has released two CDs, Call and Response and Payday! Both feature country blues classics, more contemporary, roots-oriented material and original compositions. His 1979 LP, Dog on a Dance Floor, is still available on vinyl.

“Lorraine Hammond is the most versatile dulcimer player I know”, observes North Carolina dulcimer wizard Don Pedi. Lorraine’s numerous credits as a traditional singer, songwriter, teacher and instrumentalist include her groundbreaking Shanachie release with fiddler Gerry Milnes, "Hell Up Coal Holler”, a Homespun dulcimer instruction series, and two elegant Appalachian dulcimer books with Yellow Moon Press. Lorraine also plays, performs on and teaches five string banjo, mandolin and harp. Lorraine’s new CD, “The Opal Ring”, on the Snowy Egret label, combines the traditional New England ballads of her childhood with her own songs drawn from that childhood in the Connecticut Berkshires. Reviewer Mark Flanagan observes: “ Lorraine Lee Hammond opens her latest CD with some of the sweetest notes ever produced on the mountain dulcimer”.

Bennett is the sort of finger-picking guitar player you can listen to all day- The Shetland Times. He started playing in 1957 and began teaching in 1960, debuted as a virtuoso soloist in 1980 - on the In-Bound platform, Harvard Square Station - and has played above ground, at home and abroad ever since. Early influences include an EP side of folk and cowboy songs with guitar accompaniment his sister Lucy made in 1951, recordings of Etta Baker, Mike Seeger and Duane Eddy, and of course the Three B's - Bach, Bluegrass, and Bo Diddly.

Bennett's classes focus on developing students' individual skill and style, helping you to play like yourself, only more so.

Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. is an inspirational storyteller and musician celebrating the history, humor and power of American Roots music. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he plays guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo and fiddle. His deep love for traditional African American and American traditional music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs.

For more than twenty-five years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity tells a story that should celebrate, not just tolerate. Acclaimed photographer James Fraher writes about Robert: “Perhaps the world’s most highly educated blues musician, an ordained minister, a longtime DJ, and a living encyclopedia of blues history, the Reverend Robert Jones is comfortable among juke joint loud talkers, fancy-hatted church ladies, and PhDs alike."

John Kirk is from upstate NY, near Saratoga Springs. His lyric voice, good sense of humor and versatile instrumental skills, have earned him widespread recognition in folk and traditional music circles. On fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, keyboard and ukulele, John demonstrates a vast knowledge of musical traditions. He is also a dance caller, dancer and composer. John has several recordings, and he has contributed to over one hundred more. In addition to performing, John teaches music at Bennington College, VT, and at Skidmore College, NY. He has always made his living as a musician and songwriter. In addition to his work with his wife, Trish Miller and neighbor, Ed Lowman, he’s part of the band, Mountain Quickstep, the Susquehanna Stringband, and the Dawnland Singers. The Dixie Chicks recorded John’s song, “Long Roads,” and he has numerous theater, television and soundtrack credits.

Trish Miller plays guitar, banjo, dances and sings in the band, Quickstep. She teaches banjo at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, and with her husband, John Kirk, she has been a touring artist, performing throughout North America and internationally. Trish teaches, calls and choreographs country dances. She has an encouraging repertoire of circle, square, contra and couple dances. Her stepping style is rooted in the southern mountains with a mix of traditional clogging and more modern percussive steps. Performance highlights include SAMW in New Hampshire, Great Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks, the Flurry Festival in Saratoga, Old Songs Festival near Albany, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and several more. She and John have focused their careers on music and dance in educational settings.

Eric Schoenberg began his love affair with the guitar in 1959. He started teaching in the early Sixties and before long became the second-half of a duo with his cousin, Dave Laibman, helping Dave perform his amazing, ground-breaking arrangements of classical ragtime. Their album, Contemporary Ragtime Guitar, on Folkways Records, is considered a classic and remains a benchmark for today’s fingerstyle players.

In the early Seventies Eric began touring the United States, Europe and Japan playing his innovative arrangements of the classical rags, traditional folk and Celtic music, the blues, country, and The Beatles, and making a lasting contribution to the fingerstyle repertoire. Eric also released two solo albums, Acoustic Guitar and Steel Strings, on Rounder Records.

Louisiana-born Charles Williams has won international acclaim since his opera debut at the Festival of Two worlds in Spoleto, Italy. He has acted and sung in theaters and opera houses, and for radio and television around the world. He has performed at the metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. He toured Europe as a cast member and vocal coach of "The Temptation of St. Anthony" directed by Robert Wilson with music and book by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. He is currently on a world tour with the Pomegranate Arts production of "Einstein on the Beach" composed by Philip Glass and directed by Robert Wilson. For more than a decade, Charles has partnered with global-jazz percussionist Tom Teasley to form the duo Word-Beat. Word-Beat has performed and conducted music workshops in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. Charles is a master teacher/artist in voice at the Levine School of Music in Washington DC. Students come from many countries to study with Charles in his home studio in Alexandria, Virginia. He also travels the country giving master classes and conducting vocal workshops.

Brooks Williams, called one of Americas musical treasures, is ranked in the Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists. From festival stages like Glastonbury and Celtic Connections to concert halls like Edinburgh's Festival Hall Theatre, Williams is one of the most commanding performers in music today. Whether solo or with his critically acclaimed duo, State of the Union, Williams' soulful singing and hook-laden songs are turning heads. In 2012 he was awarded the Cambridge Arts Award, appeared on Radio Ballads, a six-week BBC Radio broadcast celebrating the London 2012 Olympics, and guested on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC TV. No stranger to teaching, Acoustic magazine writes, "There aren't many people who can play guitar like Brooks Williams, and fewer still who can teach like he can." Recent workshops include Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, La Grande Gennerie in France, and The Swannanoa Gathering in the USA. His discography includes 20 CDs (with more on the way!) and two guitar instructional DVDs (praised for their accessibility as well as Williams' easy and engaging presence on screen.)

From the Director

Thanks for checking out the WUMB Summer Acoustic Music Week (SAMW) Website. This will serve as a good introduction to SAMW for you. If you have never attended a summer music camp, please stop for a minute and check this camp out. SAMW is a general folk music camp, which means we offer a number of different styles of folk music instruction as opposed to focusing on one style or technique.

The courses we offer range from the traditional to the contemporary taught by instructors who are experienced musicians and love to teach. Whether you play guitar, fiddle, mandolin or dulcimer or perhaps want to learn more about songwriting and vocal techniques check out the SAMW instructor roster. The instructors are all listed on the left side of this page along with class descriptions and daily schedules.

One of the wonderful features of SAMW is the music that the instructors and students all bring to share. This is the core of this music camp. Much of this happens during the jam sessions, but there are also concerts open mikes and workshops that expose the wonderful wealth of music found at SAMW. It's an opportunity for you to put aside daily distractions and immerse yourself in folk music, work on your particular skills and make new friends.

The site is beautiful. SAMW is situated on nearly 200 acres of woods and green spaces. With a mile of beach front on Lake Winnipesaukee, SAMW offers a beautiful view of the lake and the Ossipee Mountains.